Fatin v. INS

Fatin, an Iranian citizen, came to the United States on a student visa shortly before the Shah was overthrown and later applied for asylum, citing her family's support for the old regime and her own feminist objections to the new government's treatment of women, including the mandatory veil. She said she would try to avoid complying with these requirements as much as possible but never said she would outright refuse. An immigration judge denied her application, and on appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals she framed her persecuted social group as "the upper class of Iranian women who supported the Shah." The Board dismissed her appeal, and she petitioned the Third Circuit for review.